Observer News: The growing, invisible epidemic
The growing, invisible epidemic
================================================================================
Mitch_Traphagen on 26/02/2014 19:31:00
By MITCH TRAPHAGEN
From the cockpit of my sailboat, I called the NASA Causeway bridge tender via
VHF radio to request an opening as a southbound vessel. I heard a reply and saw
the bridge opening. I then also saw what appeared to be a northbound barge. I
assumed the barge had the right of way, so I circled just north of the now open
bridge, waiting.
And I waited. The barge appeared to be only crawling.
I circled and waited some more.
Finally, from the radio I made out, “Captain, this is the NASA Causeway
Bridge. CAN YOU HEAR ME?”
The truth was that I couldn’t. At best, I could only understand a few words.
It turned out that what I thought was a barge was actually a floating platform
for workers as they painted the bridge. The bridge tender had called repeatedly
to tell me to simply go through. He had held the bridge open as I just circled
needlessly in front of it.
I am severely hearing impaired. I have state-of-the-art hearing aids but they
can only do so much. I can rarely understand voices that I am not familiar with.
I can rarely take telephone calls, even though my cell phone beams straight into
my hearing aids. I do not understand what I hear on a television, even though,
at home, the television sound also beams into my hearing aids. I do not
understand what is said in churches or auditoriums. Chances are that if you try
to talk to me, particularly in a store or a noisy environment, I will not
understand you, either. Unless I can read your lips.
Dr. Scott Sims, an audiologist with Physician’s Choice Hearing and Dizziness
Center in Sun City Center, summed up my situation.
“Technology can’t do much for you anymore,” he said. “Your hope now lies
in medical science. There is hope there, but it could be 10 years yet.”
It is thanks to Sims that I can function in a reasonably normal fashion. It is
thanks to him that I can hear and understand the voices that I am familiar with,
at work and with family and friends. It is thanks to him that I can take
important telephone calls, and it is thanks to him that I can clip a tiny
Bluetooth microphone onto my mom’s shirt so I can make out what she says to me
during visits. He has invested many hours in making all of that possible.
Sims describes hearing loss as a growing epidemic. Once generally a concern for
the elderly, it is a problem that is silent and invisible, and it is
increasingly affecting young people. No one can see hearing loss. But the impact
on lives can be enormous.
“It really is terrible,” Sims said. “And people without hearing loss have
a very hard time identifying with hearing loss. It is invisible to them. But it
is extremely tiring and very frustrating trying to hear and communicate with a
hearing loss.”
For many people, some degree of hearing loss is a normal part of aging. Older
people tend to be more established in life and beyond the requirements of
careers. Alarmingly, however, hearing loss is now appearing in a significant
number of young people.
“When I started in Sun City Center in 1996, hearing loss here was almost
exclusively elderly,” Sims said. “Now there has been a big change, and the
average age of a hearing-aid user has dropped dramatically. The younger
generations have been exposed to more and more noise, and that has been harmful
to hearing. A fairly significant percentage of children, say between the ages of
10 and 19, probably 11 percent of kids have some form of hearing loss.”
And the impact of that will be long-lasting and difficult to measure. But rest
assured, there is and will be an impact to not only impacted individuals but
also society at large.
“What the studies indicate is that people feel isolated,” he continued.
“My patients will tell me that it may have caused them a lot of anxiety, that
is something I hear almost daily. Because we are seeing the onset of hearing
loss coming sooner in life, at a younger age, we are seeing a lot of folks that
are trying to work, to communicate with customers or supervisors, and it is very
stressful if you can’t do that. It is very difficult in this economic
environment for everyone, but it is even moreso for people who have trouble
communicating. It does cause a lot of anxiety.”
While he has many types of hearing aids available to his patients, Scott Sims is
not a hearing-aid salesman per se; he is a doctor of audiology. Businesses have
taken notice of increasing cases of hearing loss, and are responding with
ever-new products. Many of those products do not require a visit to a hearing
center or doctor; they are self-programmable from a smart phone. Such devices
tend to be far less technologically advanced and far less expensive than
high-tech hearing aids.
Sims does see some benefit to such new products, perhaps in providing those with
mild hearing impairments the opportunity to gain some measure of help.
“I think it is great that more and more attention is being focused on new
products to assist people with hearing loss,” he said. “A lot of personal
amplifier devices are possibly helpful, and it could be a good step for some.
And then from there, people could move into customized hearing aids.”
But he also recognizes they may well come with inherent dangers.
“I think, in general, I like the concept to acquaint someone with better
hearing,” he continued. “But there is a danger of someone damaging their
hearing, and that is where the risk comes in. There have been some devices on
the market that have harmed people. True hearing aids are programmed based on
your exact hearing loss, unlike someone with a generic amplification device. We
have the ability to adjust many different frequencies so we can adjust to
something you are comfortable with as an individual. An audiologist has the
ability to add a little bit of his or her experience, also.”
But there is also a longer-term problem.
“My other concern,” said Sims, “is that people will try something like
that and decide that hearing aids don’t work and they’ll give up. When, in
fact, there are a number of wonderful products out there.”
I’m living proof of that. My hearing aids and the associated devices weren’t
cheap, but they have changed my life, something difficult on which to put a
price tag. But not everyone who visits his office leaves with hearing aids.
“There are any number of people who come in here where I recommend that they
wait for hearing aids,” he said. “Our approach is that we rely heavily on
the individual — if their problem is relatively minor and they are able to
compensate, or if they just need an assistive device, perhaps, for the telephone
or television, we can help them with that. I don’t take a sales-driven
approach to this.”
Sims and Physicians Choice are one of any number of hearing centers in South
Hillsborough. Most have opened to serve an elderly population, but now are
finding their patients are increasingly younger. From A+ Hearing Center,
Armand’s and Audibel to Beltone and others, hearing loss is taken seriously.
“If you are finding that you are having to ask people to repeat quite a bit,
that is a sign that you are having trouble,” Sims said. “If you feel
uncomfortable communicating in noisy environments, even restaurants or family
get-togethers, if you find that you are starting to avoid those activities or
withdraw from them, I would recommend that you have your hearing checked. We
have a number of wonderful success stories. Today they are making hearing aids
that are much more cosmetically appealing. And that is the direct influence of
more young people using hearing aids.”
As a doctor of audiology, Scott Sims’ first priority is the well-being of his
patients and of those suffering from hearing loss. Like virtually every hearing
center in South Hillsborough, he simply wants to make life better for those he
has been trained to help. He is in private practice and does not represent any
single company.
“I think it is important for people to visit someone who can provide a number
of different brands of hearing aids,” Sims said. “I also recommend second
opinions for those who feel more comfortable with that. It is a big decision.”
But it is also an important one, increasingly critical, in fact, as an epidemic
of silence continues to grow — particularly among young people.
“With hearing loss, especially in children, it is better to get hearing aids
earlier rather than later,” Sims said. “They are young, they are learning.
It is critical for children to be able to hear.”
And with that, Sims finished programming a new remote control for my hearing
aids. I walked out of his office and realized that I had heard every word he
said. That would be called a success story.